DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ They Put a 65-Foot Hot Dog in Times Square, and It’s a Blast
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As the sun set on a cloudy evening in Times Square on Friday, a 65-foot-long frankfurter cantilevered into the sky and spewed out a blast of rainbow confetti. of its bun, drag wrestlers were finishing their match in an elevated boxing ring, practically twerking on the ropes, cheered on by hundreds of spectators. It was the first public event for “Hot Dog in the City,” an installation for Times Square Arts, the largest work that the organization has ever commissioned. The giant wiener was created by Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw, married Brooklyn artists whose métier is often interactive, food-based spectaculars that also question the lore — and lure — of Americana. When they hit upon the hot dog, a national symbol of patriotism and also an emblem of the hard-to-digest truth about mass production and labor, consumerism and marketing, it seemed like a natural match for the setting.

Persons: wiener, Jen Catron, Paul Outlaw Organizations: Times Square Arts, Brooklyn Locations: City

☆ Judith Hill Sang With Pop Royalty. Now She Is Composing Her Own Story.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The first time the musician Judith Hill performed her anguished requiem “Black Widow” for an audience, she wept, right onstage. She was Michael Jackson’s duet partner and performed at his televised memorial in 2009. And for two years before Prince’s fatal overdose in April 2016, she was his protégée, collaborator and more. They shared what she has called “an intense relationship”; he told her he loved her. It took years before she was able to face what happened, personally or musically.

Persons: Judith Hill, ”, Michael Jackson’s, —, “ Dame De La Locations: Lower Manhattan

☆ ‘Curb’ Finale Shows ‘Larry’s Never Learned His Lesson’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With a parade of callbacks and a twist a quarter-century in the making, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” the HBO series starring Larry David as a heightened version of himself, ended its 20-plus-year run on Sunday. The final episode, which referenced the polarizing 1998 finale of “Seinfeld,” David’s previous show, was replete with the usual out-of-bounds commentary and cranky fixation on minutiae; David and his co-stars — Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, J.B. Smoove, Richard Lewis — do not, by creative mandate, change. (“I’m 76 years old, and I have never learned a lesson in my entire life,” David tells a child in the episode, in the opposite of a teachable moment.) In real life, though, the cast are longtime friends, and have weathered much together, including the death of Lewis, who played himself, in February. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Persons: “, Larry David, “ Seinfeld, ”, David, — Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, Smoove, Richard Lewis —, ” David, Lewis, Jeff Schaffer, Essman —, Susie Greene, —, Essman, Schaffer, askew, Latte Larry’s Organizations: HBO Locations: New York, Los Angeles

☆ Seance? Celebration? A Risqué Tribute to Sinead O’Connor Arrives.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Melena Ryzik | Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since Sinead O’Connor died last summer at 56, the outspoken and defiant Irish singer-songwriter has been memorialized on stages both divey and grand, including a star-studded concert last week at Carnegie Hall. But no tribute was likely as nude as the one on Monday, when the performance artist Christeene brought her pantsless queer horrorcore act — and a faithful downtown demimonde — to City Winery on the West Side of Manhattan. In celebrating “a very powerful woman,” Christeene said onstage, “I think we need to understand the dangers of religion, and the importance of ritual.” She arrived in a scuffed-up red robe, flanked by two dancers in white papal hats, and then shed it all to reveal a triangle of fabric across her nether region; costume changes brought a series of sheer, one-shouldered unitards — Skims from another dimension. Traversing a stage decorated with crinkled sheets and cones of aluminum foil, in high-heeled black boots, she had the energetic strut of Iggy Pop and the evocative, funny monologues — about faith, protest and community — of an oracle. From the very first song, the audience was intensely rapt.

Persons: Sinead O’Connor, Christeene, demimonde, ” Christeene, “, Pop Organizations: Carnegie Hall Locations: demimonde —, City, Manhattan, nether

☆ Richard Lewis Riffing in One of His Last Interviews
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Richard Lewis called me barely a month ago, on Jan. 22, to gush about his friend Susie Essman. “I adore her,” he said, eagerly offering his thoughts for a profile of his co-star on the Larry David series “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” “She’s so on the money with her delivery.”Lewis, who announced last year that he had Parkinson’s disease, played himself as David’s friend on the show (as he was in real life). He and Essman, the comedian and actress behind the invective-spewing Susie Greene, the wife of David’s manager, provoked very different reactions from fans, he recalled. “When I’ve been with her in public, they want her to yell things back at them,” he said. “For me, it’s like, ‘You’re going to be all right, Richard.’”He dialed me directly, rather than having a publicist connect us, as is more common, and seemed happy to stay on the phone and crack jokes.

Persons: Richard Lewis, Susie Essman, “, ”, Larry David, ” “, ” Lewis, Susie Greene, I’ve, You’re, Richard, ’ Locations: gush

☆ On the Road With ‘The Outsiders,’ Where the Greasers and Socs Rumbled
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Melena Ryzik | Adali Schell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In denim and leather and newly acquired vintage snakeskin boots, the cast and creative team bringing “The Outsiders” to Broadway went on a trip across Tulsa, Okla., last month — a granular, history-flecked tour of the place where, about 60 years earlier, S.E. Hinton’s coming-of-age story was written and set. Hinton, 75 and still a beloved local, was a star attraction; the visit was a way of mapping out how the new musical version might fit into, or even build on, the durable legacy of “The Outsiders.”Bouncing along together in a van, singing bits of the show’s score, the company members let out a collective gasp as they caught sight of the enormous Admiral Twin Drive-In. Hinton watched double features there as a kid, and it figured prominently in her 1967 novel. The theater, whose midcentury-style signage remains, also served as a location for Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 movie adaptation, whose stars included Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze.

Persons: Hinton’s, Hinton, Francis Ford Coppola’s, Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze Organizations: Broadway Locations: Tulsa, Okla, Hinton

☆ Jonathan Majors Had a History of Abuse in Relationships, Women Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since the actor Jonathan Majors was found guilty in December of assaulting and harassing a girlfriend, he has maintained his innocence and his hope of reviving a once-skyrocketing career that disintegrated in the wake of his conviction. A third, Maura Hooper, also said that he had emotionally abused her. Speaking publicly for the first time, Ms. Duncan and Ms. Hooper, actresses who dated Mr. Majors before he shot to fame as the supervillain Kang in Marvel projects, described him as a controlling, threatening figure who isolated them from friends and career pursuits. “You lose your sense of worth,” Ms. Duncan said. And in interviews with former colleagues, The Times found that Mr. Majors had a history of volatility on the set of the HBO series “Lovecraft Country” that included confrontations with female co-workers that led them to complain to the network.

Persons: Jonathan Majors, “, Emma Duncan, Maura Hooper, Duncan, Hooper, Majors, Kang, Ms Organizations: New York Times, Marvel, Times, HBO

2/2 Larry Says the Darndest Things What did Larry say to this child? “I got some gratitude sex coming to me, and you’re not gonna ruin it.” “Hitler was a bad man.” “It’s not boring if you torture them.” “Have you heard of Switzerland? It’s a country in Europe and they don’t like to fight.” “NO I DON’T WATCH ‘WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE.’ I’M AN ADULT!!!!

Persons: Larry Says, Larry, “, you’re, ” “ Hitler, ” Locations: Switzerland, Europe

☆ Susie Essman, the Scene-Stealer Who Makes Larry David Lose It
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The comedian Susie Essman spots them regularly, out in the urban wild: fashion doppelgängers. “That’s a total Susie Greene outfit,” she said, spying a woman entering the restaurant in a hooded, salmon-orange jumpsuit crosshatched with mint green slashes. Power clashing is the life force of Susie Greene, the singular character that Essman has inhabited on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” since the HBO series, created by Larry David, began in 2000. As Greene, the much put-upon wife of David’s manager, played by Jeff Garlin, Essman is more than just a fan favorite. She is also the person who, her castmates said, makes David crack up most regularly.

Persons: Susie Essman, “, Susie Greene, ”, she’s, Larry David, Greene, Jeff Garlin, —, wilder, castmates, David Organizations: Cafe Luxembourg, HBO, “

☆ How ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ Became Their Passion Project
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Melena Ryzik | More About Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As origin stories go, the transformation of “Days of Wine and Roses” from a movie into a musical is a straight shot, with a twist. They talked through their coordinating vision for evolving “Wine and Roses,” the midcentury classic of a romance ruined by addiction. She already had a co-star in mind: Brian d’Arcy James, debonair and wry, like Jack Lemmon was in the 1962 movie, opposite the O’Hara look-alike Lee Remick. The film memorably traced the stuttery arc of alcoholism and recovery, a trajectory now familiar — onscreen and off — but rarely put to song. The production takes pains to show the love that propels their characters’ relationship — however misguided it turns out to be.

Persons: Kelli O’Hara, Adam Guettel, Tony, ” Guettel, ’ ” O’Hara, Brian d’Arcy James, debonair, Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Guettel, Craig Lucas, O’Hara, James, gorgeously Organizations: Broadway, ” Locations: Piazza

☆ Music Executive L.A. Reid Is Accused of Sexual Assault in Lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Melena Ryzik | More About Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Grammy-winning music executive Antonio Reid, who is known as L.A. and rose in the industry working with artists including Usher and TLC, has been accused of sexual assault and harassment in a lawsuit by Drew Dixon, who worked for Mr. Reid at Arista Records. The suit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Wednesday, says that Mr. Reid, who was Ms. Dixon’s boss starting in mid-2000, assaulted her twice. She left the company in 2002, and though she made forays into the industry again, she never fully recovered her promising trajectory as a music tastemaker. Stepping back from a music career “was devastating,” Ms. Dixon, who facilitated the recording of a platinum soundtrack and several hit singles, said in an interview. And that’s really what I’m trying to do.”Mr. Reid did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Wednesday.

Persons: Antonio Reid, Usher, Drew Dixon, Reid, Mr, Dixon’s, John Legend, “, Ms, Dixon, Reid’s, Joel Katz Organizations: Mr, Arista Records, Court, HarperCollins Locations: Manhattan

☆ Death, Disability: It’s All Fair Game for the Comic Daniel Sloss
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Melena Ryzik | More About Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I think it was my fourth Fringe show when I decided to do darker jokes, stuff that wouldn’t make it on television. That was never fun, but I was fine with it because I’m like, I stand behind everything I’m saying now. I think there’s something about being vulnerable to people — it’s honesty, and I think they see goodness in that. How am I going to make people laugh with the death of a 6-year-old disabled girl? Looking back, there were plenty of signs, which we chose to ignore, because we put it down to banter, like, “Hey, he’s just saying things that we all say.”

Persons: Jim Jefferies, it’s, he’s

☆ Meg Ryan Wrestles With the Rom-Com
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Meg Ryan was hurting. A two-hander opposite David Duchovny, it distills moviedom conventions and plays with a different emotional palette; Ryan grappling with her own cinematic brand. It is only her second foray behind the camera and the first time she has appeared onscreen in seven years. “I feel like I had the ride, the Hollywood ride,” she said over a restorative soup lunch on a foggy day. So I don’t have giant ambitions to be back in that.”

Persons: Meg Ryan, ”, David Duchovny, hasn’t Locations: Montecito, Calif, Persevering

☆ ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and Scorsese’s Bride Like No Other
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Melena Ryzik | More About Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Led by Scorsese, the filmmakers aimed to be scrupulously authentic in the ways they depicted the Osage, down to the threads in their clothing. “Few people in the world could afford that, but they documented their lives and their travel and where they lived so beautifully. By the early 20th century, the Osage were as au courant as Vogue editors. The wedding scene in “Killers of the Flower Moon” is a showstopper, with Mollie Kyle, the bride played by Gladstone, and her bridesmaid sisters in richly embroidered skirts, finger-woven belts and bespoke military coats, complete with brass buttons and braided epaulets. The look is topped off by towering 18-inch hats decorated with French ribbon and festooned with feathers dyed cyan or magenta.

Persons: Scorsese, Jacqueline West, Daniel C, ”, “, ” Swan, Mollie Kyle Organizations: University of Oklahoma, courant, Vogue, Gladstone Locations: New York

☆ Arts Executive to Lead Pioneer Works
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Melena Ryzik | More About Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mara Manus, a former executive director for the New York State Council on the Arts, will become the chief executive officer at Pioneer Works, the nonprofit cultural center in Brooklyn, its board of directors announced on Tuesday. Manus, who will start in October, replaces the executive director Maxine Dalio, who left at the end of last year, and the interim chief Jill Eisenhard. She will work closely with the artist Dustin Yellin, the founder of Pioneer Works; Gabriel Florenz, its founding artistic director; and the astrophysicist Dr. Janna Levin, the chief science officer. The appointment marks a pivotal moment for Pioneer Works, which is housed in a former iron works factory in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. Lately its ambition has grown; in a major capital project, it now plans to open a publicly accessible roof deck observatory — a rarity in New York City.

Persons: Mara Manus, Maxine Dalio, Jill Eisenhard, Dustin Yellin, Gabriel Florenz, Janna Levin Organizations: New York State Council, Arts, Pioneer Works Locations: Brooklyn, Manus, New York City

☆ First Look: ‘The Color Purple’ Finds New Hues in Film Adaptation of Stage Musical
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Melena Ryzik | More About Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“She’s always had such a regal reverence and a curiosity about dance from all over the world,” he said. Her hip-hop and R&B pedigree is evident in neck swivels and shoulder shimmies that connect TikTok dances to their 20th-century lineage. Some of the songs were sped up to match her moves, Sanders said. He also wrote songs for the movie, including a beat-driven work anthem for Harpo, Mister’s son (Corey Hawkins). During Bazawule’s presentation — via video during the height of covid — “I literally texted Oprah,” Sanders recalled.

Persons: Bazawule’s, Fatima Robinson, Michael Jackson, Mary J, Blige, ” Bazawule, Aaliyah, “ She’s, ”, Sanders, Bazawule, “ It’s, Ricky Dillard, Keb, ’, Christian McBride, Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, Stephen Bray, Harpo, Mister’s, Corey Hawkins, “, ” Sanders, ‘ Locations: Accra

☆ ‘Bottoms’ and the Tricky Tone of a Horror-Indie-Drama-Action-Teen-Sex Comedy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Melena Ryzik | More About Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

We finished “Bottoms,” and “The Bear” came out a month later and her world changed. The way queer teen characters are always so innocent in teen movies. “Bottoms” builds on a lot of the teen movie canon, starting with “Heathers.” What else did you use as a reference? We pulled from that era of the ’90s — I guess “Heathers” is the ’80s — but that kind of female, campy, driven, high school and murder [comedy]. That movie strikes such a beautiful tone of campiness while caring deeply about the characters — it’s right on the edge.

Persons: Ayo, Rachel, ” It’s, she’s, It’s, ” She’s, ”, they’re, “, There’s, Liz

☆ Justin Simien on Releasing ‘Haunted Mansion’ in the Midst of a Strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Melena Ryzik | More About Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

My mother took me to Disney World when I was a kid, and it was the first thing we rode. I remember being sophisticated enough to understand that it was a trick — that I wasn’t really being followed around by a hitchhiking ghost. It felt to me that there was a physicality and a realness to this world, even though it was fantastical. New Orleans [where the ride and movie are set] is a Black city. It just wasn’t a movie I was interested in making any other way.

Organizations: Disney Locations: Orleans, Black

☆ Satchmo’s Wonderful World: Louis Armstrong Center Amplifies An Artist’s Vision
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Melena Ryzik | More About Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And yet for decades, the Louis Armstrong House Museum has been a well-kept secret on a quiet street in Corona. The longtime residence of the famed jazz trumpeter, singer and bandleader, it is a midcentury interior design treasure hidden behind a modest brick exterior. The museum’s new extension, the 14,000 square foot Louis Armstrong Center, blends in a little less. It looks, in fact, a bit like a 1960s spaceship landed in the middle of a residential block. “The house is relatively small,” said Regina Bain, executive director of the House Museum and Center, speaking of the two-story dwelling where Armstrong lived with his wife, Lucille, from 1943 until his death in 1971.

Persons: Louis, Louis Armstrong, ”, Regina Bain, Armstrong, Lucille Organizations: Louis Armstrong House Museum, Louis Armstrong Center, Queens, House Museum and Center, Jazz, Lincoln Center Locations: Queens, Corona ., Armstrong, “

☆ Can’t Decide Whether to See ‘Barbie,’ ‘Oppenheimer’ or Both? Our Barbenheimer Quiz Can Help.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Barbenheimer is upon us, and moviegoers must decide between two chisel-cheeked midcentury marvels: “Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s three-hour biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, “father of the atomic bomb,” or “Barbie,” Greta Gerwig’s Day-Glo feminist-magical realist take on Mattel IP. While box office trackers say “Barbie” is likely to far outpace Oppie, at least 40,000 fans have already bought tickets for both. Should you opt for a head-snap of a double feature? Or see just one – and which one, at that? Answer these five questions to find out if you’re a Barbie girl, an Oppie nerd or a bona fide Barbenheimie.

Persons: Barbenheimer, “ Oppenheimer, ” Christopher Nolan’s, J, Robert Oppenheimer, “, Barbie, Greta Gerwig’s, ” Organizations: Mattel

☆ For Filipino Audiences, ‘Here Lies Love’ Offers Emotional Rip Currents
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Melena Ryzik | More About Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For him, even after so many years with the show, the addition of Filipino producers was deeply meaningful. “It made me feel safe,” he said, “knowing that the Filipinos were in charge, that we could just do our jobs” as artists. Like Salonga, he has played a variety of ethnicities, just about none of them Filipino. “I feel like I owe all of those ethnicities an apology — like, I’m sorry I got cast,” Salonga said. “I want to see other communities of color be able to look at ‘Here Lies Love’ and go, ‘We can do that.

Persons: Aquino, “, Ferdinand, ”, “ kuya, Salonga, ” Salonga Organizations: Broadway

☆ For a Documentary on Intersex Lives, a Director Champions the Power of Activism
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Depicting the startling reality of many intersex people’s lives offers what Cohen called “a holy crap element.”“I like a holy crap documentary,” she said. In light of David Reimer’s death, did you purposely choose people who were already public about being intersex? They feel like that’s something they do on command and that’s part of their activism. Someone had literally checked ambiguous, crossed it out and then checked female. And whatever surgeries are necessary to lock down this baby being female, that’s what we’re going to do.

Persons: people’s, Cohen, ”, “, David Reimer’s Locations: —

☆ Wes Anderson’s Secret Weapon: The Camera Moves of Sanjay Sami
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

And what I thought is this character is going to come out and not just set the stage for this convention they’re doing, but more to set the stage for the decade. Then, Jeffrey comes to us, and then Jeffrey goes over here, and we go over there. And Jeffrey goes over here, and we go here. And Jeffrey goes over here, we move around side to side. So you can slide forward and back and side to side, but it’s an extremely complex rig invented by our key grip Sanjay Sami.

Persons: Wes Anderson, I’m, Jeffrey Wright, I’ve, ”, we’ve, Jeffrey, you’re, Sanjay Sami, “, Dinah Campbell, It’s, they’ve Organizations: ‘, “ Locations: ‘ Asteroid

☆ Ebon Moss-Bachrach Gives ‘The Bear’ Its Abrasive Edge
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

He still gets nervous before big scenes — but it’s helpful, he said; it means there’s something to risk. “I had my feelings hurt a lot.”In “The Bear,” Matty Matheson, the Canadian chef and restaurateur, plays the hanger-on and handyman Neil, his first scripted role. “I’m a student of the acting school of Ebon,” he said. “I’m like this soft blade, trying to constantly be nice,” said Matheson, who is also a producer and consultant on the series. For him, “The Bear” was a character study in loss and change.

Persons: “ I’m, he’s, ”, “, ” Matty Matheson, Neil, Matheson, Richie, I’m, ” “, “ Richie doesn’t, ” Storer, Courtney Storer, Christopher, Edebiri, Moss, Bachrach, — Carmy’s, Jon Bernthal, offscreen — Richie, ” Moss Organizations: Beef, nachos Locations: Ebon, Chicago, Los Angeles, Sydney, Chicagoans, Moss

☆ Jenny Lewis Keeps Finding the Magic
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Melena Ryzik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

About half of the tracks for the LP were created over two years in Los Angeles. The rest she made in Nashville, where she has also had a home since 2017. (After her own tour, she’ll be joining the Postal Service on the road this fall.) “If you don’t like Jenny Lewis, you don’t like people,” he said. She was estranged from her parents for decades, then reconciled with each late in their lives.

Persons: “ Joy’All ”, Tracy Chapman, Frank Ocean, It’s, —, Rilo Kiley, Postal Service —, she’ll, Dave Cobb, Brandi Carlile, John Prine, Chris Stapleton, Jenny Lewis, ”, birdsong, Lewis, Ram Dass, Elvis, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Gucci, “, Cohen Organizations: Portishead, Postal Service, Records, Nashville, Gucci, Universal Studios Locations: Los Angeles, Nashville, Atlanta

Search resuls for: "Melena Ryzik"

25 mentions found